Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 79183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I was twelve.
Who would send this to everyone? It’s not like it was a secret, but it feels like shit even seeing my innocent face there, and the fact that nobody in that family would vouch for me, the wife hated me, the kids thought I was shown too much favoritism, and the case was eventually thrown out, the only reason it made the news was because I called the cops on him in the Wal-Mart parking lot after he threatened me in the minivan for not spreading my legs for him again and that I needed to stop asking for it.
I’m shaking. I’m mortified. And I’m angry, but I’m afraid to move; it hurts to breathe. I lean back against the locker and try to even my breathing as much as I can when Ambrose pulls me into his arms and rubs my back. “Ignore it as much as you can, chin high; you have my family to protect you. People always want to hate you when you have it all, do you understand?” His words are falling on deaf ears.
“You don’t know,” I whisper. “You don’t know.”
“He knows,” Quinn chimes in behind me. “Trust me when I say he knows.” Ambrose tenses.
People are starting to gather around us; I feel Quinn move away. Is he abandoning us?
And then, the sound of the fire alarm goes off as water sprays down from the ceiling, and people start screaming and running.
I turn around and see Quinn casually standing next to the handle and shrugging. “I was hot.”
“Yeah, the flames basically swallowed us all whole.” Ambrose agreed. “Thank you.”
“But…” I look between them. “Quinn’s going to get suspended now!”
“Who? Me?” Quinn points at himself. “Look, I know Ambrose is a big deal, but so am I.” He winks. “Now run along while I go turn myself into the principal’s office. Sometimes she has bubble gum suckers.”
“Get me the blue one,” Ambrose calls after him.
“I’ll get you two!” Quinn salutes us and runs off while Ambrose walks me outside the school.
The fire department comes, and everyone’s so focused on the sirens and missing classes that they’re not even looking at their phones.
I know it’s only a temporary thing—people forgetting and focusing on something else, but it was what I needed before I broke down in the hall.
Ambrose wraps an arm around my shoulder. “You doing better now, sis?”
I scrunch up my nose. “Gross.”
“Agreed.” He laughs. “I can totally see your nipples through your white shirt, by the way.”
She elbows me. “You can’t call me sis, then say that with your next breath, you weirdo!”
“But I did make you laugh.” He points out. “If you’re feeling generous, I’d be more than happy to let you slide your breasts across my chest a bit to warm up; I can even offer a hot mouth, a bit of biting just to make sure you still have sensation.”
My cheeks heat, I try to scowl but smile anyway. “There will be no rubbing or sucking.”
He pulls a sad face. “At least let me down easy. Instead, you just shove me off the horse and trample me to make sure I’m dead.”
I give him a light shove. “And yet, somehow, I think you’re going to power through.”
He laughs, then looks over my head. “There’s the hero of the hour; little shit better have my sucker.”
“What is with you and sucking?”
“What is with you and not sucking?” He looks genuinely confused.
Quinn finally makes it to us and tosses Ambrose two suckers and one for me. “Sorry, they were out of the pink. By the way, I can totally see your nipples through your shirt—“
“—What is wrong with you two!”
“What?” Quinn frowns at Ambrose. “What did I say?”
Ambrose winks at me and unwraps his bubble gum sucker, then shoves it into his mouth, and suddenly, all I can think about is, well… sucking.
My eyes lock on the way his mouth pops it in and out, tongue swirling.
“Shhh.” Quinn leans in. “He’s auditioning for a porno.”
“Ass.” Ambrose shoves him, and Quinn shoves back. “So what did the principal say.”
“You mean when I told her I slipped?” Quinn starts sucking on his own sucker, and I’m surrounded by hot guys licking things. Ahhh! “She asked if I needed to see the nurse.”
“Ohhh, that’s why you got two suckers.” Ambrose nods.
Quinn stares down at me. “I was a very good boy.”
“Did she give you a sticker too?”
He literally pulls up his sleeve and shows me a heart sticker; I want to roll my eyes but laugh instead. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”
He bows. The bell rings, and teachers start ordering kids to go back into the classrooms. I suddenly wish I could just stay outside in the parking lot with these two confusing guys watching them lick suckers while imagining the ways one of them used to lick me.